à Trouver: June 2014

The day started with a trip to the National 9/11 Museum to see how the city and country has "respectfully" memorialized those who were lost during the tragic events on September 11, 2001. This was a free day sponsored by Conde Nast. However, as in the spirit of all things free in New York City, it was first come, first served. Upon arrival, Amanda and I were greeted to the news that the free tickets for admission were all spent and then that purchase tickets were sold out through Saturday; this was a Wednesday (typical in NYC for all things new and shiny). After a few choice photo ops, we figured that we'd try our luck at some other cultural explorations.

After a twisting and winding walk through the Financial District, we stopped to take in the site of the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Customs House. Housed inside of this National Historic structure is also the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of the American Indian (why they're called Indians is still bewildering to me and will be apart of a later rant). I personally did not enjoy much about this museum nor its location. This is not to take a jab at the Native American culture; however, to me, the museum felt to be in very poor taste from the exhibits, to the historical location, and to a number of architectural details of the building. I personally did not enjoy the visit, but check out my high/low-lights:

Beautiful symmetry in the main hall

Amanda taking it all in

Peering around corners

I didn't care for...

The exhibition's language..."beasts that talk"

Architectural details

Asia is contemplative...America is alert...Europe is majestic...Africa is asleep.

Moving along though...to mid-afternoon...

Still in lower Manhattan, and finding that we still had an entire day of beautiful weather ahead of us, I decided that we should really be tourists and hop on the Staten Island Ferry. The ferry service runs 24 hours and day and is completely free. It's a hit with tourists for that reason and because it offers some truly unparalleled views of lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, Jersey City and the New York Harbour in general. The trip is about 15 to 20 minutes and is a perfect way to beat the heat--the breeze is nice and so are the libations that are available for the after work crowd or just the casual day drinkers parched from waiting every half hour to board.

Check out a few shots from aboard the John F. Kennedy ferry:

New York vs. New Jersey (so close but yet so far)

Amanda enjoying the breeze

Lower Manhattan

The obligatory tourist shot (first time seeing the front of the Statue of Liberty)

Upon arriving on Staten Island, we were faced with the question of, "what do we do now?" In our typical urban exploration we hit the pavement to take in the sights, sounds, and diverse terrains of the borough. Visually Staten Island looks like a conglomeration of working class neighborhoods with differing levels of diversity and affluence. It does not have that central downtown area that you find in Brooklyn and Manhattan or even Flushing, Queens to a certain extent. The terrain is harsh and unforgiving, with very steep hills not fit for biking up (I learned that the hard way later) and hills not safe for riding down without adequate braking mechanisms dotting the interior of the landscape. Despite the density as is the case in all boroughs of New York City, Staten Island offers a much more "suburbanized" lifestyle, especially on the far side of the island than any other borough.

After a stop in a Stapleton neighborhood public park we decided to venture to the other side of the island via the (mostly) free Staten Island Railroad, a subway styled partially elevated heavy rail line that cuts clear across the island from one waterfront to the other at Totenville station.

Less crowded streets in Staten